It’s been a tough couple of years for Page Industries. The maker of innerwear and athleisure, retailed under the Jockey brand, has always banked on its premium fabric quality to carve out a leading share in an otherwise fragmented space. While the company managed a double-digit revenue growth in the September quarter, it must now look beyond its playbook, say experts. They believe it’s important to experiment with channels and designs to stay relevant for consumers who are ever willing to trying new things.
What was noticeable about the near 11% sales increase in Q2FY25, the best in seven quarters, was the 41% y-o-y growth in the e-commerce channel sales. The growth is coming off a small base; B2B sales were hit in FY24 with a couple of e-marketplaces that sell the Jockey brand, slowing down.
Nonetheless, e-commerce and within that q-commerce helped boost overall volumes which came in at 55.2 million pieces, up 6.6% y-o-y. To be sure, as Karthik Yathindra, President and chief of sales & marketing, Page Industries, points out, the q-commerce channel can carry only some specific products. “The assortment we have chosen for q-commerce is tight and limited,” he told analysts on the post-results earnings call, adding Page continues to lead in the e-commerce space as number one in terms of market share.That’s good news for the men’s innerwear business. With a fair part of consumer demand shifting online, it must continue to work on this channel especially since q-commerce is more relevant for menswear than for womenswear.
Indeed, experts point out that increasingly more legacy players—across categories and brands—are now becoming indexed to the e-commerce channel and the world in general is moving to omni-channel. “E-commerce has allowed many brands to come into the market and demand is moving to e-commerce,” says Angshuman Bhattacharya, Partner and National Leader – Consumer Product and Retail Sector, EY-Parthenon.
Page is working to stay ahead in the e-commerce space. “We are trying to make sure that we build technology and infrastructure so that we are up there in the game,” says Yathindra. Indeed, the importance of technology and supply chain management cannot be understated for any brand in any category that wants to sell via e-commerce in the country today. As EY’s Bhattacharya observes, the toolkit needs to be a sharp one. “If, for instance, the product is repeatedly unavailable, the page rankings will get pushed down. The on-shelf-availability or OSA needs to be 90% at a pin-code level,” he explains. Moreover, there are seasonality factors at play and the occasions like Big Billion Days and so on,” he says.
Experts believe that with the competition from D2C brands, especially in the womenswear space, increasing, experts believe Page needs to do more. According to Anand Shah ED, Institutional Equities, Axis Capital, Nykaa has done a remarkable job with Nykd. “Out of nowhere, in the last 2-3 years, they’ve become a Rs 200-crore brand in terms of ARR. They’re now number 3 on Amazon, for select segments of innerwear, and are doing very well. So if Nykaa can crack it, I am sure Page can do even better, Shah says.
To be sure Page must also up its game in the offline space. As Yathindra has pointed out, the portfolio which offline stores can carry would be much larger and the touch-and-feel experience they offer will work in their favour. Page intends to continue with its plan to open 140-160 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) every year.
While the company continues to launch new products, Shah believes Page should watch out for the competition from a Lux, Dollar or a Rupa in the menswear segment. While the Jockey brand is known for its quality, and therefore, should command a premium, the premium should not be disproportionate. “Keeping the cotton inflation in mind, the company should be careful not to outprice itself,” he says.
The management is also focused on the women’s segment, a highly competitive space, to give it a boost. Today there is a dedicated sales team and an independent business unit —for product design, marketing and product management—for both innerwear and outer wear. The portfolio today caters for all requirements of women, an improvement over the portfolio of 4-5 years ago. For instance, the offering includes cotton stretch and synthetic products.
“Even the marketing investment is disproportionately skewed towards the women’s business as we see a lot more opportunity and potential,” Yathindra says. Also, given that the junior’s portfolio is best is best served when attached to the women’s portfolio, the majority of distributors who carry women’s innerwear portfolio also carry the junior’s portfolio.
The competition in the athleisure space too is keen with brands available across price points—value to premium. Post the pandemic, this segment has exploded. From comfort-wear, sleepwear, sportswear, consumers are spoilt for choice. While Jockey has positioned itself well, it must work to gain share. Shah feels Page may want to experiment with price points in the athleisure segment. “They need to do more than just showcasing their quality and offering it at a reasonable price. Perhaps they could look at introducing a fashion element,” he says.
That might be a big step for Page known for being functional rather than fashionable. But, with consumer tastes and preferences changing, however, it’s probably time to move on, becoming more of a page-turner.